The light which drives out darkness
by BlueLil
Summary: Until he found that half dead guy it had been a normal day in the life of Peter Parker... When Spider-man finds a pretty beaten up ex-villain, he has to turn to the Avengers for help. No slash. Brotherly fluff. Loki!whump. Spider-man joining the Avengers, Rated T for torture
1. Prologue

**Hello :)  
**

**This is my first own fanfiction, I hope you like it.  
It contains Spider-man joining the Avengers and Loki!whump  
as well as Loki being nice.**

**Please review! I apologize for any spelling mistakes or grammatical  
errors, but please note that English is _not_ my native language!**

* * *

**Prologue**

_They come for him. Again. It is the third time that night that his capturers decide to pay him a visit. He shuts his eyes tightly, he doesn't really know why for it is going to happen anyway. Maybe one silly, tiny little part of him hopes that they will eventually think him dead and leave him alone. Of course he is not that lucky._

_They have brought the knives. So that is what they are planning to do. He grits his teeth as one of them approaches the table he is stripped to. It is a big one, sending off a horrid smell that makes his still closed eyes water._

_He resists the urge to pull away as filthy hands grab his wrist. Struggling only makes it worse. Nevertheless he can't prevent himself to gasp at the sharp pain of a blade digging into his flesh. He feels blood wet his lower arm. His torturer cuts him again, a little above the first cut, then connecting the thin red lines with another two cuts. Then the brute slowly and with obvious pleasure he strips the little rectangular part of skin away from the body. This time he screams through his still gritted teeth not caring for the burning pain it causes to his broken ribcage._

_They laugh, very loud and very nasty._

_"Yeah, scream you little wimp", a voice close to his ear whispers. "You have so much more skin left."_

_He fights the desperation, trying not to let his tormentors see his fear._

_Another cut is inflicted to his poor arm. They are still laughing and he prays for death to come and end his suffering._


	2. Chapter 1

**So here is chapter 1. It's not that long but I think  
the other chapters will be increasingly long ;-)**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Until he found that half dead guy it had been a normal day in the life of Peter Parker.

He had gotten up for school just like any other day, had eaten breakfast and kissed his aunt goodbye. School had been as boring as always but he told himself constantly that it was his last year so it would soon be over. He had eaten lunch with Harry and Gwen as usual. After school he had dressed as spider-man, swinging around the city for a bit, catching two car thieves and one bank robber and saving a small child from a burning house. A normal day in every sense.

It hadn't been until nightfall that something unusual happened. He had just been passing a deserted quarter store when he suddenly heard a loud crash nearby. Naturally, he immediately headed towards the noise, sensing that something was wrong. Soon he came to a dark and narrow alley, where he found some trash cans knocked over. Peter laughed at himself for being so paranoid, thinking that it was probably just a cat, when he noticed a small figure lying on the ground next to the trash cans.

He approached the motionless body and gasped slightly at the sight. A man was lying there on the concrete, with messy long black hair and blood smeared all over his very pale face, eyes shut. Peter crouched down putting to fingers to the man's neck to feel for a pulse and sighing in relief when he found one. Not dead then, only unconscious.

He took a closer look.

"Holy shit!"

The guy's ribcage looked as if it had been used as a punching bag. Peter doubted that there was even a single unbroken rib left. His clothes seemed to have been dark green and black at some point in time, but were now dirty and ragged. He had no shoes therefore Peter was able to notice several missing toenails on his feet. The far too pale face was covered in bruises and slightly sweaty. In addition to that he seemed to have four broken fingers and a broken leg. And those were only the injuries that were visible to the naked eye. Surely there were also damages done to the internal organs.

Peter reached for his pocket in order to get his cell phone and call an ambulance only to realize that it was still lying on his desk at home. He cursed under his breath. What to do now? He could hardly leave the injured man alone, but there was no one around, he was all alone. He gently patted the guy's pale cheek. "Come on, wake up!" he murmured anxiously. Maybe when the man woke up, he could at least tell Peter who he was and where he lived. He couldn't believe his luck when the other's eyes fluttered open after several moments. The injured man looked around with unfocused eyes, confusion written all over his face.

"...Thor..."

Peter had to bow down even further to understand the whispered word.

"Thor? Is that your name? Where do you live?" he asked, brow furrowed. For a moment the man looked at him with bright green eyes. Then he closed his eyes again.

"No please! You have to stay awake!" Peter pleaded desperately. The man's eyes remained closed, but his mouth moved and leaning closer to him Peter picked up one word.

"Avengers..."

After that the injured slipped into unconsciousness again.

* * *

Tony Stark poured himself his fourth drink that evening. It was around 9 pm and he didn't know what to do. Pepper was on a business trip to Los Angeles, Bruce, who resided in Stark Tower most of the time, was currently out at the Opera (it was great that the big guy dared to go into public again but opera wasn't really Tony's thing) and Steve, Natasha and Clint were out on a mission somewhere in Europe and wouldn't be back until the next week.

Left alone Tony had just decided to watch a movie when he heard a soft thud on his balcony.

"JARVIS, what's going on? Is it Thor or just a very big bird?" he addressed his AI.

_"Neither, Sir, it seems to be two men, one masked and one seemingly unconscious and injured."_

"Do they pose a threat?"

_"I am afraid I am not able to tell, Sir" _the AI replied calmly.

"Oh great." The inventor sighed. "Prepare the Mark VIII in case it comes down to a fight."

_"Yes, Sir."_

Tony put on the infrared bracelets and stepped out on the balcony. In the middle of the tiled platform there knelt a man dressed in something that looked like a red and blue whole-body-suit holding a limp motionless figure in his arms. The strangely dressed one looked up when Tony approached the two of them.

"Can I help you somehow? You know I also have a door." Tony greeted while eyeing them cautiously.

"I'm really sorry for bursting in like this man, but I didn't know where to take this guy." the red one answered. He sounded quite young. Tony looked him over from head to toe. That red one seemed familiar to him. Then it dawned to him.

"You're that Spider-man who saved the city from that crazed Lizard, right?" he asked curiously.

"Yes." the other replied sounding a little proud.

"That was great work. Anyway, what happened to that guy?"

"I don't know. I was on my way home when I heard a loud crash and then I found him, lying there unconscious."

"He drunk?"

"Can't smell alcohol on him, but he seems to be pretty injured."

"Then why did you bring him here? A hospital would probably be a better place for him."

"I know, but he said something about Thor and the Avengers when he gained consciousness for a moment and honestly, I don't believe he just got in a fight or got beaten up by some idiot..."

Tony frowned. Then he stepped closer and knelt down beside the unconscious form. When he looked the man in the face his breath caught.

"That is absolutely impossible..." he murmured to himself. But the Spider had heard him.

"What is impossible? Do you know him?"

"Yes. Yes I do. But I have no idea how he came here."

"Who is he then?" Spider-man asked curiously.

"His name is Loki," Stark answered. "And he's not from this world."

* * *

One of the Chitauri approached Thanos' throne.

"My Lord, the Asgardian prince..."

"What is it?" the Titan growled dangerously quiet.

"He... He's gone my Lord!" the Chitauri whispered, fear showing clearly in his voice.

Thanos kept silent for a moment. Then he looked at the poor Chitauri and the latter's head exploded.

Thanos turned to the surrounding Chitauri.

"Get the wimp back." he ordered quietly.


	3. Chapter 2

**So here is chapter 2.  
I can't promise to keep up this speed of updating as I have a lot to do for school at the moment.**

** Mirlana: Yes, the story takes place after Avengers and before Iron Man 3. I didn't want to set it up after  
the last Iron Man because I think it's kind of a pity that Tony gets his arc reactor taken out.**

**I hope you like this chapter. If you do, please review ;-)**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Peter was not sure why he had gone to Stark Tower. Maybe because it was the one building he connected with the Avengers and where he could hope to find help. He had picked up the injured man and put him on his back. In order not to lose him on the way, he tied the man's hands together with his spider webs after pulling his arms over his own shoulders. Having the other secured like this he started to swing through the city towards Stark Tower. The man had moaned a few times during the ride, Peter felt his shallow breath next to his ear, but he did not awaken for a second time.

When arriving on the platform of Stark Tower the teenaged Spider had felt unusually exhausted from the effort of carrying a person all the way through the city. Therefore he had remained next to the still motionless man for a while in order to catch his breath. The latter had seemed to have worsened during the ride. He had been even paler than before; his face glistening with sweat and his breath laboured. Peter had brushed away some strands of hair from the man's brow, wincing in concern when he noticed, that the guy had to have a fever as well for he had felt way too hot under the Teenager's fingers.

It was only a few minutes before the very owner of the Tower showed up: Tony Stark aka Ironman himself.

"Can I help you somehow? You know I also have a door."

Peter could not believe it. Ironman had been talking to him, Ironman himself! He had whacked himself mentally, now was not the time to hyperventilate. He had explained shortly what had happened and why he had brought the injured to Stark Tower. He had been very proud when Stark recognized him, but tried not to show it too much. The inventor had examined the unconscious and Peter had been able to see the older man's face fall.

"That is absolutely impossible..."

"What is impossible? Do you know him?"

"Yes. Yes I do. But I have no idea how he came here."

"Who is he then?"

"His name is Loki. And he's not from this world."

That intrigued the Teenager.

"What do you mean by that? Which world _is_ he from?" he asked eagerly, all fatigue forgotten.

"I'll tell you everything later. For now, we have to take care of him." Stark answered, his voice more serious than before. Peter nodded; of course they had to treat Loki's wounds urgently. The poor guy had started to shiver in the cold night air by now.

Stark picked the broken figure up and carried him towards the glass door which led into the tower.

"Come on in then, Spider-boy!" he exclaimed.

"It's actually Spider-man" Peter replied before excitedly following the older man. He got to see Stark Tower. How freaking cool was that?!

* * *

Of course there was an infirmary in Stark Tower. In fact there was a whole floor dedicated to that purpose. At first, Tony had protested against it being built, but Pepper had convinced him by pointing out that due to his arc reactor he might occasionally need medical attention. There was nothing that Tony hated more than public hospitals, especially after returning from Afghanistan, so he had finally agreed.

Now the infirmary floor turned out to be an asset, for Loki didn't seem to be able to make it to the nearby St. Mary's Hospital in time.

Tony laid him down on one of the white sheeted beds and then went to search through the numerous cabinets.

"JARVIS? Do a full body scan on him." he commanded his AI calmly after returning with some disinfectant and bandages.

"_Of course, Sir."_

It took the AI several minutes to analyze the body scan. In the meantime Tony cleaned some of the superficial wounds and patching them up as good as possible.

"_Sir, the patient has 24 broken ribs as well as four broken fingers and one broken leg. Furthermore he has several cuts, some of them are quite deep, and a slight concussion. His throat seems to have been burnt with some kind of acid. He lacks four toenails and seven fingernails."_

Tony clenched his fists. True, he hadn't liked Loki during the Alien invasion and he couldn't say he liked him now. But the trickster god's condition was without any doubt the result of torture and torture was something Tony was not able to tolerate, no matter who it was inflicted on.

"What about his vitals JARVIS?" he asked trying his best to sound calm.

"_His current body temperature is about 103 °F, heart beats 121 times per minute, blood pressure 160/100."_

"So he has probably a fever, his heartbeat is too fast and his blood pressure too high, although we can't be certain because he might have a different physiology."

"_That is correct, Sir."_

Tony sighed heavily. "That Guy really is a handful..."

He turned around to get plaster when he noticed the Spider-boy standing in the door frame, looking around awkwardly and he realized that he had completely forgotten about the young man.

"Hey, Spidey, mind helping me a little?"

The other looked up, still wearing that funny red mask.

"What do you need help with?" Spider-man asked hesitantly as if he wasn't sure how to behave.

"I have to plaster his leg and his fingers. I need someone to hold the bones in place while I patch them up."

The Spider-boy nodded and moved over to Loki's side. Tony returned with the plaster and proceeded to realign the bones. The youngster held the plaster for him and then helped by keeping the bones in place. They worked in silence.

"What about the ribs?" Spider-man asked once they had finished plastering the leg and the fingers.

"Well, we realigned them but we can't plaster them. I guess they will have to heal on their own." Tony answered. "But don't worry," he added with a small smile when the young man tilted his head in slight disapproval. "If he is anything like his brother he'll heal very fast. Thor once fell over thirty thousand feet from a flying helicopter and it took him only one night to recover."

"He's Thor's brother?" Spider-man eyed Loki curiously.

"Yes he is. Come on, let's go upstairs and have something to eat. You look like you could do with some food. I'll tell you about him once we refreshed a bit. JARVIS? Keep on watching him and let me know if there are any changes in his condition."

"_Yes Sir."_

"Great. Come on then kiddo!" Tony smiled invitingly before leaving the room. Spider-man cast Loki one last glance. Then he followed the billionaire upstairs.

* * *

Peter had a problem. And it was a serious one because those appetizers on his plate looked really fantastic but he didn't want to reveal his secret identity by taking of his mask, not even to Tony Stark. The latter was eyeing him curiously and even though Peter liked the guy he had a distinct feeling that once he told him who he was the whole world was going to know his identity by tomorrow. Stark hadn't even been able to conceal his own secret identity for long.

"Not very practical that mask of yours, huh Spider-boy?" the billionaire mocked as if he had been able to read the teen's thoughts.

"Shut up!" Peter tried not to sound too embarrassed.

"Just saying..." Stark smirked.

Peter sighed and decided to roll up the lower part of his mask so that his mouth was visible but the main part of his face remained concealed. It wasn't very comfortable but at least he was able to eat.

"So who is that Loki guy?" he asked a few minutes later when he felt less hungry. "And what do you mean by saying he's not from this world? Is he a freaking alien or somethin'?"

Stark put his glass down and remained silent for a few seconds as if he was thinking about something.

"Yeah, I guess you could say he's an alien." he finally answered. "He's from another _realm_ called Asgard."

"Ah, okay." That name didn't ring any bells in the teenager's mind. "And how do you know him?"

"Basically?" Tony took another sip from his glass. "He tried to take over Earth with an army of aliens last year."

There was a small break during which Peter tried to process what he had just heard.

"That invasion with the portal and those crazy alien guys... That was him?!"

A nod.

"So... he's a villain then?"

"Well, he used to be one. I am not sure if one can call that picture of misery down there a _villain_."

"I can't even imagine him being evil and stuff at all." Peter said thoughtful.

"Yeah well, last year he claimed to be a god and kept saying that all human beings are no more than ants that need to be ruled." Tony shrugged. "He threw me out of that window over there."

"Huh..." Peter didn't quite know what to say. "Anyway, it doesn't look like he ruled anyone lately."

"Yep. And if Thor finds out who it was they won't live much longer."

No one said anything for a few minutes. Then Tony broke the silence.

"JARVIS, how is Reindeer Games doing?"

"_There have been no changes, Sir. But I shall inform you of the fact, that Dr. Banner is approaching the tower."_

* * *

Bruce was in quite a good mood. He had seen a new production of Verdi's _Rigoletto_ and was still humming the melody of "La donna è mobile" when he entered the tower. His good mood vanished quickly when he sensed that something was wrong. He could not have explained exactly how he knew; maybe it was because of the Other Guy's animal like instincts. He forced himself to keep calm and had just decided to ask JARVIS about it when suddenly the elevator door opened and Tony stepped out along with a slim man dressed in a red and blue costume.

"Oh, hey Brucie!" Tony smiled at him widely. Too widely. He seemed to be quite nervous.

"What is it Tony? The thing that you don't want me to know? And who is your guest?" He tried to sound as cheerful as possible but his hands were shaking slightly. Oh great.

"That is a young fellow by the name of Spider-man. He's the one who saved the city from that giant Lizard. And well... why don't you come upstairs and we'll have a little tal-"

"_Sir, I believe the patient is waking up." _The AI's voice interrupted.

"Patient? What patient?" Asked the Doctor, his brow furrowed and with a slightly greenish tint.

"Come with us to the infirmary and see for yourself, Doc" Tony sighed. "You wouldn't believe me anyways."


	4. Chapter 3

**Here is chapter 3 :-)  
Thanks to all those who already reviewed my work so far. I'm really happy  
that you like my story.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The first thing Loki noticed when waking up was that he was lying on something soft, so much softer than the metal table he had been stripped to for what felt like an eternity. Next he realised that his body was aching a lot less than before. He wasn't able to move his leg and some of his fingers but he could still feel them, so they weren't paralyzed. His torso however, still burned like fire and there was a dull throbbing in his head that prevented him from thinking straight.

Suddenly he heard a door opening, several different footsteps, then someone said his name in a calm and unfamiliar voice. He instinctively tried to summon up his magic but couldn't reach it. Oh, that was just fantastic. The trickster didn't know if whoever was there in this room besides him was friend or foe and he had no possibility of defending himself. He tried to suppress his rising panic when suddenly the foreign voice spoke again.

"Loki, can you open your eyes?"

That was quite an interesting question for Loki himself didn't know the answer. He decided to give it a try, also to find out whom he was dealing with, and willed his eyelids to open slowly. Bright lights greeted him worsening his already bad headache so that he closed his them again quickly.

"Hey Spidey, could you turn down the lights for a bit?" the voice commanded. Through his closed eyelids Loki felt the light dim. He waited a few seconds and then tried to open them again. It was still a little too bright for his liking but it was bearable now. As soon as his eyes had adjusted to the light he saw the face of a bearded man leaning over him. Oh Norns. He knew this man as well as he knew the little shining circle in the man's chest.

Loki sat up immediately shrinking back as far as he could in an attempt to get away from the now frowning man. The latter took a step back rising his hands in an appeasing manner.

"Relax Reindeer Games; I'm not going to hurt you."

The trickster god relaxed his tensed body, mainly because it hurt so much, but remained as far away from the man as possible. He looked around the room, his eyes narrowed, and noticed two other people, one dressed in a red and blue suit standing by the door, the other, a rather inconspicuous human with a slight beard, approaching him carefully. Loki fought the urge to shrink back once again when recognizing Doctor Banner but the latter didn't seem to be in an aggressive mood so there was no danger from his huge green Alter Ego. The trickster god shortly considered the possibility to try and talk them out of hurting him with his infamous silver-tongue but as his voice would obviously sound weak and shaky and not a bit menacing he decided to keep silent. Better safe than sorry.

The next moment Loki started to feel nauseous. Now that his body had relaxed a bit, his stomach had decided to complain about the abrupt movement from earlier. He felt bile rising in the back of his throat and his hand flew up to cover his mouth.

"Shit, he's gonna be sick!" Stark shouted. "Hand me that trash can over there Doc!"

Only seconds later a metal bin was placed in front of Loki. Immediately he leaned over it and proceeded to throw up what little was left in his stomach. It was excruciating. His contracting stomach muscles hurt like hell and the bile burnt his already severely damaged throat. Tears of Pain stung in his eyes and the God cursed himself mentally for crying in front of two Avengers but couldn't do anything against it. Soon there was nothing left to expel and he started violently coughing. It wasn't until then that he noticed someone holding back his hair and patting his back reassuringly. The doctor he realised with some amazement. He managed to calm down with some effort but found himself unable to stay upright. Shivering he collapsed back on what he assumed was a bed. Now he was really and completely at the mercy of his enemies. Just perfect.

* * *

"What happened to him, Tony? It's not your doing is it?"

"Of course not! Thanks for thinking so nicely about me, Brucie." the billionaire pouted. Bruce sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry. So what happened?"

"Honestly? No idea. Spidey here found him on the street and brought him here. Apparently he said something about the Avengers..."

"He was awake when you brought him here?" Bruce asked the young man who was still standing next to the door.

"No, not really. He regained consciousness for some seconds but he didn't say much." the youth answered.

The doctor frowned slightly.

"Do you happen to have some medical instruments 'round here?"

Tony nodded and pointed at the cabinets.

"Help yourself Brucie."

Bruce went over to the cabinets while rolling his sleeves up.

"You wanna check on him? I already had JARVIS do a full body scan of that guy."

The doctor threw him an almost pitiful look.

"There are some things even your AI can't do, Tony. "

"_That is true, Sir," _JARVIS agreed._ "I can only check for broken bones and other more obvious damages as well as checking the vitals."_

Tony threw the ceiling a deadly glare but then sighed and let Bruce do his thing.

In the meantime the doctor had gotten himself a little torch, a little hammer and several other instruments. He went over to Loki's bed, crouching down to the trickster god who had closed his eyes once more, apparently too exhausted to stay awake.

"Loki," Banner said in a calm and soothing voice "I need you to open your eyes again. It's only for a moment."

Much to Tony's surprise the black haired man did what Bruce told him, although he didn't seem too happy about it. Banner switched on the torch. He shone into both of Loki's eyes. Loki winced at the sudden exposure to brightness after a few reassuring words from the doctor he tried his best to keep looking at him. Tony just shook his head in disbelieve. That Dr. Banner was an impossible guy; even the evillest super-villain could not resist his gentleness. Not that Loki currently came close to what Tony would have called "the evillest super-villain".

"You have a headache?" Bruce asked the patient. A weak nod. The doctor took Loki's hand and pinched the web of skin between two fingers.

"Can you feel that?" Another nod. "So no traumatic brain injury then." The doctor sounded relieved.

He tried a few other things, tested Loki's reflexes and stuff. Finally he turned to Tony.

"He has a concussion, nothing terribly serious. It should heal on his own when he gets enough rest. And he is underweight, so he should get something to eat soon, but nothing too heavy to digest. And he needs a little cleaning up or else some of the minor wounds could get infected."

"Got it, Doc," Tony said. "JARVIS? Prepare a bath for Reindeer Games."

"_On it, Sir."_

"By the way Tony, when did that Spider-man leave?"

It wasn't until that moment that Tony noticed that the young hero was gone.

"Huh... Well he'll be alright, he survived a giant lizard. So shall we take care of that god over there?"

Bruce opened his mouth to rebuke the billionaire but one glance on Loki who had lost consciousness again shut him up. Tony was probably right.

* * *

That had been far too much for one evening. Spider-man sat, mask taken off, on a gargoyle high above the street lights of New York and tried to process what had happened. He had found a beaten up super-villain – or rather _ex-_super-villain. He had met Tony freakin' Stark. Then he had spent most of the evening in Stark Tower. And then Bruce Banner had arrived, the Hulk himself. Truth be told he had nearly hyperventilated while the two Avengers had been working in the library. Suddenly he had felt the overwhelming need for air and slipped out without the two of them noticing it. It took him a moment to catch his breath again. He wondered whether he would ever be allowed to return to Stark Tower to hang out with his heroes some more or if they would simply forget him because they were too busy saving the planet. He ran a hand through his hair. No one would ever believe him, that much was clear.

He sighed, then he threw a glance to the big clock on a building on the opposite side of the street. He gasped. It was nearly 1 am. Oh shit. Aunt May would be worried to death by now. He masked himself again and started to swing his way home.

* * *

Back at Stark Tower Bruce and Tony had finished cleaning up Loki. The condition of the trickster god looked a lot less alarming because the dried blood had disappeared from his face. They had dressed him in some clean Ironman PJs after having put new bandages on his wounds. Tony had to admit that with his eyes closed and his face relaxed in what seemed to be something in between sleep and unconsciousness the young god looked almost cute. But only almost.

"You think Asgard did this to him?" Bruce interrupted Tony's thoughts. The billionaire furrowed his brow.

"I'm not sure. Their culture seems to be a little more stone-aged than our society but I can't believe that Thor would let anyone harm his brother like this."

"I think you're right. Remember how he reacted when we talked about Loki being crazy and stuff?"

Tony nodded.

"Well," he said after a brief silence, "I wonder where Thor is right now. Maybe he could tell us more about Real Powers condition."

* * *

Thor was walking the corridors of his father's castle in Asgard. He didn't look happy at all and the guards tried to avoid his gloomy gaze. He reached the throne room and entered without letting himself be announced.

"Thor." his father greeted him, his face completely expressionless.

"Father." Thor bowed his head slightly.

"What concerns you, my son?" the All-father asked, already knowing the answer.

"There still has been no sign of my brother, although we have been searching him tirelessly in all the Nine Realms. I fear something grave has happened to him."

Odin sighed, but said nothing.

"It has been three months since he disappeared from his cell, since he was _taken_ from his cell, and even Heimdall is unable to detect him! He cannot have vanished in thin air, he has to be somewhere, so please, father, let me take further action! Let me search him in the darkness that borders the Nine Realms!"

"No, Thor," the old man answered quietly. "It is too dangerous."

"Loki's life might be at stake and you are holding back because of disproportionate fear!" Thor glared at his father incredulously.

"Not only Loki's life is endangered. If you leave the Nine Realms it is your life and the life of everyone who goes with you that I am worried about," Odin threw him a serious glance."Do not let your mother suffer through the loss of another son!"

Thor lowered his gaze, knowing that there was nothing else he could say to change his father's mind. He clenched his fists, angry about his own powerlessness. Suddenly the heavy door flew open and a guard entered, breathing heavily.

"My king!" he reported agitated "Heimdall sends me. He has found the escaped prisoner!"

Thor stood petrified for a moment, not knowing whether to believe the good news or not. Then he turned and sprinted as fast as possible to the warden's post on the Bifröst.

"Is it true, Heimdall?" he shouted from afar. "Have you found my brother?"

The warden examined him with his golden eyes.

"Yes, I have."

"Where is he? Tell me quick!" the god of thunder demanded.

"He is on Midgard, my prince, in the company of those who are known as the Avengers."


	5. Chapter 4

**The fourth chapter ^_^ Thor makes his appearance  
in Stark Tower and maybe some other interesting  
things happen... **

**Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are great! :-)**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

His aunt was still awake when Peter returned home. Of course she was. She hadn't been able to really sleep ever since his uncle had been killed. The teenager couldn't help but shiver at the thought of that terrible evening, his aunt's tears, his own feeling of being helpless...

"Where have you been all night?" Aunt May's voice sounded heavy with worry. She was sitting on a chair in the kitchen when he returned.

"I'm fine, Aunt May," he assured her. "I just forgot the time."

"Oh really? Let me have a look at you!"

He turned to her. After a moment she sighed in relieve when she found his face unharmed apart from a few scratches.

"I tried to call you, you know?" she said sounding a lot calmer.

"I'm sorry Aunt May, I forgot my phone. It's still in my room upstairs" he explained. She nodded. Then she said with a glance on her watch: "You should sleep now, you have school tomorrow."

"You're right." Peter smiled at her and then turned to go upstairs. Like hell he would be able to sleep now!

He entered his room, locked his door and started his computer. After all he had seen that night he still had some open questions and what w as better suited to answer questions than the internet?

He opened Google and typed "Loki" into the search panel. Yeah, there was quite a lot he wanted to know, starting with that mysterious guy he had picked up. It would be a long night.

* * *

"_Scream you worthless piece of rubbish," he whispered with his bilious, raspy voice. "Scream for your noble father or even better for your beloved brother!"  
He grabbed Loki's jaw firmly with one of his hands and laughed, blowing his evil-smelling breath in the trickster's face.  
"No one's gonna come to save you. Ever. Who would care for an abhorrent Jotun runt after all? You will stay here with me for the rest of your pathetic life!"  
Loki tried to free himself from his assaulter's grip but although the grasp was not very strong he lacked the strength to even move more than a few inches. He was tired, so tired... He let his eyes slip close, but immediately there was a hand on his throat cutting his oxygen supply.  
"Don't you dare sleeping! I will make sure you'll never sleep again!"  
Loki coughed and gasped for breath, his lungs started to burn as if they were on fire. Finally the hand released his throat. He greedily sucked in air.  
"Please..."he finally managed to whisper hoarsely.  
"Are you begging me for mercy?" Oh how evil that voice sounded. "Do you want me to leave you alone?"  
"Y-Yes... Please... I.. I want to sleep, just let me rest a little bit..."  
"No," he answered almost gently. "You will never sleep again."_

* * *

"_Sir, it seems that the patient might need assistance."_

Bruce looked up in concern. He and Tony were currently in one of Tony's countless laboratories in Stark Tower. _Come on Doc, it's not like you can sleep now or anything as long as Loki's in such a bad shape. We might as well have some fun with my science toys._

"Which kind of assistance, JARVIS?" he asked.

"_He has been tossing and screaming in his sleep for almost half an hour. Also his temperature is rising."_

That didn't sound good.

"I'll go upstairs and have a look at him, you fine here Tony?"

The billionaire nodded without taking his eyes off the piece of metal he was working on.  
"Sure Doc."

Bruce wasn't even sure if Stark had actually understood what he had said but decided not to think about it and instead went to the elevator.

JARVIS hadn't lied when he had said that Loki was screaming. Bruce heard him already before he even entered the infirmary. He wasn't able to understand particular words, but it sounded awfully frightened and distressful. The Doctor quickly opened the door and hurried to Loki's bed. The god was still pale but now drenched in sweat, his eyes squeezed shut and tossing and shivering violently. That must be one hell of a dream, Bruce thought to himself.

"What's his temperature, JARVIS?"

"_His current body temperature is 104.5 °F."_

That was almost dangerously high. Bruce grabbed Loki's right shoulder with one hand trying to wake the Trickster up, but that caused Loki to toss around even more.

"Shit!" the scientist murmured under his breath. He laid one hand on Loki's far too hot forehead. The trickster seemed to have difficulties breathing, sucking the air in with short and laboured gasps.

"Loki!" Bruce said calmly. "Loki, you have to wake up!" He stroke over Loki's far too pale cheeks. The god's eyelids twitched and then suddenly flew open. Bruce sighed in relieve.

"Loki, are you with me?" The trickster looked at him, a panicked look in his wide opened eyes, still breathing far too quickly. "I need you to calm down. Breath slowly, in and out. You had a nightmare, remember?"

Loki's breath evened out a bit but he kept staring at Bruce. Then he turned to his side abruptly so that Bruce was looking at his back and started to cough violently. The doctor waited a few seconds but when Loki didn't seem to be able to calm down he took hold of the trickster's shoulder again.

The sick god tensed up immediately and stopped moving. Like a trapped animal, Bruce thought. He released his grip and took a step back.

"Easy there," he said in the calmest voice he could muster. "I'm not going to hurt you, remember?"

Loki relaxed but still seemed cautious towards Bruce. The scientist rubbed his hands to his pants and looked around himself awkwardly.

"Well, I'm leaving you. If there is anything you need just tell JARVIS, he will let me or Tony know." He looked at the trickster but Loki didn't make any sign to show that he had understood. Bruce sighed and turned to leave.

"Why?"

The doctor thought he had been mistaken at first for the trickster's voice was hoarse and hardly above a whisper. But when he found green eyes looking at him inquiringly he took a few steps back in the direction of the bed.

"What do you mean?"

"Why... are you... helping me?" It sounded as if every word pained him, strained and incredibly exhausted.

"Because you _need_ our help," Bruce answered with a soft look in his eyes.

"But... I am your enemy."

"That doesn't matter. Now try to get some sleep without nightmares." And with that he left the infirmary.

* * *

"That was the last one, Tasha!" Clint said climbing down from the roof of the little suburban house and examining the corpse of a black dressed man lying in front of him. They had been chasing that man and his friends all night, trying to keep them from placing bombs all over the place. In the end Clint had to shoot them all to prevent them from setting fire on the whole settlement. He rubbed his eyes and thought wishfully of his bed.

"Great," the ginger assassin answered, sounding tired as well. "Let's get back and see what the good captain has found so far."

They made their way to the little hotel where they were staying. Steve was sitting in the living room of their apartment trying not to fall asleep over the several files he had to read.

"Found anything new, cap?" Clint asked.

"No," the captain blinked sleepily. "I still have no idea why they would chose this small city of all things. How was your night?"

"Nothing unusual. We killed them all."

Steve tried not to shudder. Yes, he was a soldier, but he still didn't like the thought of killing, not even if it were evil guys.

"Well, I guess we should be heading back then. There's nothing left to do here" he said in a resigned voice. They had been chasing those terrorists for almost a month now and still had no clue what they were up to. They always attacked small cities were hardly anybody lived and they never send a message or anything to explain their actions.

"Yeah," Clint nodded in agreement. "But let's get some sleep first. Tasha-" He turned to his partner only to notice that she was asleep in one of the armchairs. A smile crossed his lips at the sight of her slightly opened mouth. He draped a blanket over her and then went to one of the sleeping rooms to get some sleep as well.

* * *

Bruce found Tony on top of the building mixing a drink.

"How's our favourite villain doin' doc?" The billionaire greeted him when he entered.

"He's fine considering the circumstances. It was just a nightmare."

Tony's face grew serious at the thought of his own nightmares that haunted him ever since his captivity in Afghanistan and since the battle in New York.

"Nightmares are nothing to be taken lightly," he said. "Anyway, do you want a drink?" Bruce who had just opened his mouth to ask Tony what he meant closed it again and shook his hand, but Tony had already turned his back on him searching the shelf behind him for another glass.

Suddenly they heard a heavy thump on the balcony.

"Please!" Tony said without turning around. "_Please _tell me that this was not the Joker landing all beaten up on my roof! I can't take care of another super-villain tonight!"

"I'm positively sure that it was not another _villain_" Bruce answered, the hint of a smile in his voice. The billionaire turned around just in time to see a tall and muscular blond man with a red cape and a hammer standing in front of the glass facade.

"Open the door JARVIS!" he commanded his AI and made his way to greet the God of thunder.

"Friend Stark, friend Banner, it's been a while since our paths crossed!" Thor greeted them with his deep booming voice.

"Thor!" Bruce smiled at him genuinely. "It's good to see you." The tall god smiled back, but then his face grew more serious.

"Friends, where is my brother?"

Tony didn't ask how Thor knew about Loki being here. He was a god after all.

"He's upstairs, but I believe his sleeping at the moment," Bruce informed their friend.

"How is he?" Worry was evident in the god's voice.

"I wish I could say that he's fine..." Bruce started carefully but he got interrupted by Tony.

"He has several broken bones, a concussion and bruises all over his body not to forget the mental damage."  
Thor paled visibly.  
"Mind explaining to us what happened?" Tony asked.

"I swear, I do not know, friends." Thor shook his head sadly. "My brother disappeared from his cell in Asgard three month ago and even Heimdall, the all-seer, was not able to detect him until today."

"So this wasn't part of his punishment?" Tony asked.

"Of course not!" Thor looked at him indignantly. "I would never let any harm come to my brother if I could prevent it!"

There was a moment of silence.

"So who did this to him?" Bruce asked, stating the obvious.

"I do not know," Thor said seriously. "But I am going to find and punish them." He turned to his friends, his face lit up just a bit.

"Can I go now and see Loki?"


	6. Chapter 5

**Finally the fifth chapter! I am truly sorry for the delay,  
but I have a lot going on at the moment.**

**Enjoy this chapter and feel free to post a review ;-)**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The first thing Loki noticed when waking up again was that his body hurt less than it had anytime during the last three months. Quickly he scanned his body for remaining injuries. His ribs were still broken but it was already easier to breathe. He wasn't able to move his leg but that could be due to the cast Stark had put around it, same for his broken fingers. His head still hurt like hell. That wasn't good. Apparently with his magic gone he would take some time to heal. He sighed and opened his eyes carefully.

Thankfully there were no bright lights turned on this time, only some dimly glowing lamps. He turned his head carefully, gritting his teeth against the dizziness that almost immediately followed the movement. There, next to his bed, sat Thor, one hand across his eyes but clearly not sleeping. Oh great. Loki tried to fight his rising panic. His so called brother had followed him to Midgard to take him back. Surely that was what he was going to do.

The trickster turned his eyes back to the ceiling before closing them.

"I should have known you would come here to annoy me," he said quietly with his eyes still closed, concealing his fear with disdain and desperately forcing his voice not to shake too badly.

"You are awake, brother!" The loud noise of a toppling chair followed Thor's booming voice. Loki winced involuntarily.

"Are you unable to be quiet, just for once?" he murmured not hiding the annoyance in his voice. "Currently my head feels as if you were messing around with your hammer inside of it!" He opened his eyes to glare at the thunder god.

"Forgive me, brother." Thor looked at him like a kicked puppy and Loki had to keep himself from laughing at the sight.

"I am not your brother. When will you ever understand that you big oaf?" he snarled at the blonde instead.

Thor opened his mouth to say something in return but fortunately Stark chose that moment to enter the room with a tray full of food and some water.

"Hey there," he said cheerfully. "Oh, Reindeer Games, you're awake! Great!" He smiled genuinely which confused Loki a little. How can one smile at his enemies in that way?

"I brought some food, figured that you would be hungry," he explained while setting down the tray on a little table. "There are fruits and bread and cereals… Bruce said you probably needed something that is easily digested."

Loki had to admit that the food looked delicious and he could hear his stomach growling at the sight. He tried to sit up carefully only to be overwhelmed by dizziness. He swayed but remained upright thanks to a firm hand on his shoulder. Thor he realised half annoyed and half grateful. He leaned against the bed head for support trying not to look at his so called brother.

"I shall try your Midgardian food," he said doing his best not to sound too hungry although he was on the verge of starving. Stark held the tray out to him and he reached out for an apple. He took a careful bite, found that it was eatable and took another bite.

"So, Loki…" Stark said after a short time of silent eating. "What happened to you?"

Loki froze immediately.

"_Scream, little_ Prince. _Scream and cry as long as you want to. Nobody is going to hear you."_

"Loki?" Thor sounded worried. He must have spaced out.

"Is it not obvious what happened to me?" he asked Stark cursing how hoarse his voice sounded all of the sudden.

"Who did this to you?" Stark asked. Loki cringed at the thought of his torturers. Couldn't the mortal just leave him alone?

"Someone not nice" he answered vaguely. Thor's eyes darkened at this statement.

"And how come you are here now? Did they let you go?"

"_You will stay with us for all eternity. And you will suffer for all eternity."_

"I do not know how I ended up here on Midgard. Nevertheless I am certain that they did not let me go voluntarily." Loki whispered and this time he was unable to hide the fear in his voice.

* * *

"Parker, would you mind paying attention?"

His teacher's voice jolted Peter out of his reverie. Truth be told he had nearly been sleeping in class after researching the Avengers and Norse mythology all night.

"Sorry, Mr. Carpenter," he mumbled and cushioned a yawn. As if that teacher was going to teach him anything new. Mr. Carpenter threw him a glance as if he could read thoughts and then turned back to the rest of the class to go on talking about quantum physics. Sighing, Peter straightened up a bit and began scribbling on his memo pad, thoughts wandering.

So, that Loki was the Vikings' God of mischief and Thor was the God of thunder, or at least they believed them to be gods. But, judging from what Stark had told him the other night, they rather were some kind of Aliens.

He sighed. He had read some stories taken from the Edda, the book of Norse mythology and had soon found out, that their stories were really bloody and violent. Like Loki getting stripped to a rock and having a snake dripping her venom on his eyes for all eternity. Or that story where he got that Baldr guy killed with mistletoe.

The fact that Loki was said to have several children, amongst others an eight-legged horse, just seemed plain weird. That guy was hardly above twenty judging from his looks!

The Avengers were interesting as well. He had found a lot about Tony Stark, but there was practically no information about that Doctor Banner he had met. The only thing he had found when researching him were several scientific essays which were amazing, so Banner had to be a very good scientist, but there was nothing about his role in the Avengers' team.

In order to find out the answers he would have to go back to Stark Tower, but to be honest he felt a little shy towards Stark and the other Avengers and they would want him to unmask…

"Your homework will be to answer all questions concerning the text about Max Planck on the work sheet, alright? Ok, you are dismissed. Except you Parker, I want to have a word with you in private."

Peter frowned. What did Carpenter want from him? With a slight knotted feeling in his stomach he approached the teacher's desk.

"I'm really sorry for zoning out earlier, Sir. It won't happen again."

Mr. Carpenter looked at him silently for a while.

"This is not the first time that I get the feeling that you are bored in my class, Parker."

"I'm not bored, Sir," (Yes he was) "I just didn't get much sleep last night and therefore I'm a little tired I guess."

Mr. Carpenter waved one hand. "It's fine Parker, I know that you are a lot more intelligent than most of the other students, Gwen aside, and that you already know a lot."

"Sir, I – "

"Let me finish, Parker. What I am going to do now is offering you a chance." He made a dramatic pause. "There is an internship for students by Stark Industries. The interns get a chance to visit the lower laboratories in Stark Tower. And I happen to have the privilege to choose one of my students to participate. I would very much like you to be that student."

Peter gaped at him in awe.

"You are one of Midtown Science's best and brightest, Peter. I believe you will make the best out of that internship."

A smile spread across Peter's face. "I won't disappoint you, Sir," he promised. Oh, that was just too good to be true. He could enter Stark Tower without being Spider-man. Just what he had been looking for.


	7. Chapter 6

**The sixth chapter.**

**Peter starts his internship in Stark Tower ^_^**

**Thanks for all of the 34 reviews so far, I never thought  
that so many people would like my story :D**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Once again, Peter marvelled at Stark Tower. Sure, he was used to the Oscorp building, but Stark Tower was outstanding in both height and architecture. And on top of that it was the only skyscraper worldwide to run solely on green energy, produced by the Arc Reactor. A scientific masterpiece. Peter smiled, feeling his stomach twist in excitement, and entered the lavish foyer.

He noticed rather quickly that security was a lot more thorough in Stark Tower than in the Oscorp building. He could easily get into the latter by pretending to be one of the interns and choosing a random pass. Here he had to show his passport first to prove his identity before getting the little card.

"If I ever see one of you without his or her pass, he's immediately declared a security threat and will be thrown out of to the Tower!" the head of Stark Industries' security explained to them, trying to look intimidating. It didn't really work.

"They are just interns, Happy!" a voice from behind them scolded the bodyguard. "Have I already mentioned that you take your tasks as head of security a little too serious?"

All the interns turned around and saw a blond woman with a gentle smile on her face standing behind them.

"Hello" Her smile grew even wider. "My name is Lauren Taylor and I am the head researcher of Stark Industries. In the following weeks you will get an insight in the scientific research of our company. Stark Tower has more than ten floors solely dedicated to that purpose, so there will be more than enough to see. Are there any questions?"

"Yes." A tall boy with brown hair and large glasses raised his hand. "Will we get to meet Tony Stark?"

"Unfortunately Mr. Stark does not have a lot of free time", Ms Taylor answered, still smiling if somewhat a little forced. "But maybe I can ask him if he wants to give you a lecture in mechanics."

The teens murmured excitedly to one another – a lecture by Tony Stark himself! Only Peter kept quiet and smiled to himself. Stark had a lot of free time, he had no real job after all, but he probably didn't want to deal with some nerdy interns. So Peter had to find another way of meeting him. He sighed. So he had to leave the group and look around on his own again. Hopefully this time he wouldn't be bitten by a mutant spider. Or get thrown out by an overeager security boss.

"Well then, follow me!" Ms Taylor said brightly.

First they visited a floor which was specialized in researching about reptiles. Oh great. Peter tried not to remember the giant lizard's claws digging into his flesh as he watched an iguana walking around in his terrarium. It didn't really work and he had to look elsewhere in order not to panic.

Turning away he noticed a door in the back of the room. There was nothing written on it, which was why it caught Peter's attention immediately. In laboratories everything was inscribed. He threw a quick glance around, checking for anyone observing him, and then moved towards this door. He tried the handle and was delighted by the fact that it wasn't locked. He waited a few moments, and then he opened the door and slipped through, closing it behind himself.

On the other side of the door there was a small dimly lighted corridor with white walls. Peter followed it curiously only to find an inconspicuous staircase. He chose to go up. After a few stories with nothing interesting he suddenly found himself standing in front of a large glass door. He tried to open it but it was locked. Peter frowned and looked around, hoping to find something wherewith he could unlock the door. He noticed a small monitor screen on one of the walls.

It turned out to be some sort of control panel where you had to enter a code to proceed through the door. Peter smiled. It was almost too easy. Five minutes later the glass door opened with a soft fizzling and Peter continued his little expedition through Stark Tower.

* * *

"Give me that!"

Tony stood in his favourite laboratory, surrounded by his robots who were supposed to be helping him. They were not. Not really. Dummy had been especially bad today. He just kept breaking everything. And of course he_didn't _hand over the screwdriver. Tony sighed and played with the thought to reboot the clumsy robot. Nah. He shook his head slightly. As stupid as that robot was, he had still saved Tony's life after Obi, no _Stane_, had stolen his Arc reactor.

Tony was currently working on a new high power laser which he wanted to add to his next suit, but he just couldn't concentrate. He was still thinking about what Loki had told them earlier. Looking back maybe they shouldn't have asked for details of his torture. The trickster god had gone all white and they already thought he was going to have a panic attack, but then he had started to tell them about skin being torn away and seething oil being forced down his throat as if he was talking about someone else. He didn't look at them however and Tony was certain that he didn't tell them anything near to everything, but even with only those details he wondered how Loki had managed not to go insane after three month of such a treatment.

Involuntarily, the billionaire thought of his own torture in Afghanistan, of the water he was plunged in, the cold… He closed his eyes for a few seconds, overwhelmed by memories, but opened them again when he heard a door open. He frowned and turned around. No one was supposed to be able to enter here without his permission. Not even Pepper. His frown deepened when he saw a boy standing in his door, tall and slim and with brown messy hair.

"And who are you?" he asked and tried to sound as abrasive as possible.

The kid looked up, obviously embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry Mr. Stark," he said awkwardly. "I'm an intern here and – "

"And you have nothing to do in my personal workshop!" Tony interrupted him sharply. "Go and look at some animals or whatever interns do these days. JARVIS, how did this kid even get in?"

"_I am afraid he hacked into my system via a control panel without setting of any alarm, Sir."_

That baffled the mechanic.

"Is that true kid?"

"I… Yeah, I suppose", the boy answered scratching the back of his head. Tony couldn't help but being impressed. The firewalls of his AI were as good as indestructible.

"How long did it take him, JARVIS?"

"_6 minutes and 45 seconds exactly, Sir."_

That was definitely impressive. Tony had to admit that he was starting to like the kid.

"What's your name, Kid?"

"Peter. Peter Parker."

The name Parker sounded familiar to Tony.

"You have anything to do with that scientist Richard Parker?"

The boy's facial expression changed from embarrassed to closed in a matter of seconds.

"Actually he was my father."

Tony didn't know what to say. He knew that Richard Parker had died in a plane crash many years ago. How old had that boy been back then?

"Well… Do you want to help me with my stuff here? You don't seem to be _too _dull and that Dummy over there is really sucking today!"

The kid's face lit up instantly. He approached the working bench and looked at the things lying on it.

"A high powered laser?" he asked excitedly. "Awesome!"

Tony nodded smiling.

"So… can you give me that screwdriver over there?" he asked then.

* * *

Peter's smile when he left Stark Tower was even wider than the one he entered with. It was almost evening. He had spent the whole afternoon with Tony Stark, working on a laser. That was so cool.

"Why don't you come around again? I'll tell Happy to send you straight to me next time you're here," the inventor had said when Peter left. The boy was only able to nod, too overwhelmed by that offer.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the two blond men and the red haired woman who passed him at the Tower's door and headed towards the elevators.


	8. Chapter 7

**Finally a new chapter! ^_^**

**Sadly there's no Spidey in this chapter, I apologize to all Spidey-fans in advance.  
I hope you can still enjoy this chapter and I promise that he will soon join the  
Avengers for a longer period of time :-)**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"So… how did your mission go?"

Tony tried his best to sound as cheerful as possible when he broke the silence that followed once all of the Avengers, except for Thor, were assembled in the living room on top of Stark Tower. Steve and the two assassins had arrived one hour ago and after taking their luggage to their rooms they had come up in order to have a little talk.

"It did not exactly go as planned." the Captain informed him.

"Did they succeed? The terrorists, I mean!" Bruce sounded sincerely worried. Tony only shook his head. If there had been a terrorist induced explosion anywhere in America it would have been all over the news.

"No, we were able to stop them… meaning that Clint and Natasha killed them all." the Captain said and made what Tony called his beaten-puppy-face. He always made that face when he was forced to go against his morals. Tony didn't understand him. What was wrong with killing evil guys? "But we still don't know what they want."

"Actually I killed most of them." Clint interjected, ignoring the Cap's sad face completely.

"You killed hardly more than half of them and you were standing on a roof shooting arrows while I battled them face to face" Natasha said dryly. Tony couldn't help but grin. Sometimes the red-haired assassin showed an unexpected sense of sarcastic humour. Clint looked as if he wanted to talk back to her, but Bruce beat him to it.

"Come on, you won't discuss who's better now, will you? You are two grown up, professional assassins!"

Tony grinned at the Doctor's almost desperate look. Oh, how he loved this team. There was always something fun going on.

"Have you any leads on the ominous organization?" Tony tried to change the subject. Bruce threw him a grateful look for acting so adult.

"Sadly not." the Captain answered. He too seemed relieved to talk about something else than killing people. "What have you been doing all the time while we were gone? Don't tell me you are still working on that laser-thingy."

"Should I remind you of how often my lasers have already saved your sorry ass, Capsicle?" Tony pouted, being only half serious. By now it had gotten really rare that he and the Captain had a real quarrel, although he still loved to tease the super-soldier.

"Often enough." Steve smiled at him. "But still, don't expect me to understand anything of your science stuff."

"Oh believe me Cap, I don't," Tony sighed dramatically. "Yes we still worked a little on that new _high power laser_"- he threw the soldier a meaningful glance- "And I am glad to inform you that I will soon be able to use it in battle. Well, anything else? Pepper has gone to LA for a short business trip, there are new interns in my Tower and… oh yeah, Loki is currently staying with us."

* * *

Clint felt all the blood drain from his face. Loki. Loki was here, at Stark Tower.

_A blue-glowing stick with a sharp end was pressed to his chest. He felt fire burn through his body, black fire, making its way to his eyes were it lingered for some seconds._

_Then nothing, nothing interrupted by a few images._

_He remembered being in truck, driving through a tunnel. Some kind of laboratory. A strange city and a rotating little device. The inside of a helicopter. A fight against agents from S.H.I.E.L.D._

_And then Natasha. Natasha fighting him and his body fighting back while he could do nothing against it._

_Then pain. His head being smashed against something. Suddenly he was in control of his body again. A hit to the head followed by darkness._

"_Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Take you out and stuff something else in? You know what it's like to be unmade?"_

"-nt, hey Clint!"

A voice calling his name got Clint out of his thoughts. Suddenly he noticed that his hands were grabbing the fabric of his pants. They were shaking badly. Slowly he registered the other Avengers surround him with worried expressions on their faces. Natasha was kneeling next to him and kept one hand firmly on his shoulder.

He took a shuddering breath.

"Why?"

"Clint, you don't have to stay here. If you don't want to meet Loki, it's fine."

Natasha's voice sounded soft and reassuring and he was tempted to do as she proposed. But he had to know.

"Why is he here?" he asked with a hoarse voice.

Tony looked at him; all joking had vanished from his eyes.

"He is here because he needed help." the inventor said simply.

Help. Clint laughed dryly.

"Is your Tower an asylum for villains now? Are you planning on inviting more of them? Because I sure as hell am not going to stay here if you do."

"No, Clint-" Bruce started but the assassin interrupted him immediately.

"Have you forgotten what he has done? Have you forgotten that he threw you out of a window? That he levelled half of the town? That he _killed _Coulson? Have you _fucking_ forgotten all that?"

Clint noticed that his voice was shaking badly by now, but he didn't care. Not now. He tried desperately to block out the images of Loki's attack, to keep a cool head as he should as an assassin. But it didn't work.

"We haven't forgotten any of this, Clint." Bruce answered calmly. "But he did need our help. And I mean it. When he… arrived here there wasn't much left of the man that fought us. Hell, there was hardly anything left of a_man_."

Clint stared at him in disbelief. He wanted to shoot back something, but before he could even open his mouth Natasha spoke.

"What do you mean? What happened to him?"

Bruce shook his head sadly.

"We don't exactly know. But he has been tortured. By "people who were not nice" as he says."

"How did he come here?"

"Funny story" Tony answered. "That spider-man – you remember? The one who saved the city from that giant lizard? He brought him here after he found him in the streets. We attended to his wounds and… well, looked after him. Thor arrived yesterday. He's with him now."

"And how," Clint asked with as much self-control as he could muster. "How do you know that he won't do any harm this time?"

A short silence followed. But just when Tony wanted to answer a soft and cool voice from the door spoke up.

"Yes, how do you know that?"

Clint froze. He had hoped to never hear that voice again. Never. He turned around. There he was. Loki. Standing in the door, Thor behind him.

Clint wasn't sure if he wanted to run away or attack the trickster. But before he could decide for one of the two actions, Bruce positioned himself between him and Loki.

"I told you not to get up yet! You're far from being fully healed!" Surprisingly, Bruce sounded a little angry. Not in I'm-going-to-hulk-and-destroy-everything-manner, but as if he spoke to a naughty child.

"It got boring down there." the trickster retorted coolly. "And my _brother_ is not the best company. Do not fear, good doctor" he smiled ironic."I've had far worse than that!"

Clint took a deep breath. Ok, so Loki didn't try to attack and he hadn't yet called them "puny humans".

He examined the trickster's appearance more closely. He was wearing black sweatpants and a dark green hoodie. Not the most menacing clothes. He was very pale and now that he had overcome the first shock, Clint noticed that Loki was leaning against the doorframe slightly for support. Not so menacing as well.

"What happened to those beautiful pyjamas I gave you?" Tony asked in that instant.

"You mean that red and gold atrocities? I asked JARVIS for something else, I didn't want to walk in those", the god replied plainly. "Why do you have to put your face everywhere?"

"He… he gave you Iron-man PJs?" Clint asked incredulously. The idea was just too funny. Loki in red and gold Iron-man PJs.

It seemed to be only then that Loki noticed Clint and the other shortly arrived Avengers. Something cautious entered his gaze. He took a step back as if he wanted to retreat but Thor laid one hand on his shoulder.

"It is alright, brother. No one will hurt you."

Loki threw him a venomous glance but didn't deny his words. Clint frowned. Was Loki afraid of them?

Bruce went over to Loki and put one hand to the trickster's forehead.

"You still have a fever. If you don't want to go back to the infirmary, at least sit down!"

Loki looked at him for a while. Then he nodded and slowly started to make his way to the sofa, still cautious towards Clint and the others, but mostly Clint.

He was only half way through the room when his legs gave out and he fell on his knees.

* * *

Pathetic. He was simply pathetic. Unable to contradict his so-called brother when he claimed that he was afraid of the newly arrived Avengers, unable to _lie_, although he was the God of Lies.

And now he wasn't even able to walk through a room. He cursed under his breath when he felt his knees buckle in the middle of the room. His newly mended leg was still aching and he was so _weak_. Even the short walk from the infirmary room to this living room had been exhausting for him.

Pathetic.

He slumped to his knees, hands stretched out to catch himself, wincing at the pain that shot through his formerly broken fingers.

Thor was immediately at his side, slinging one of his Loki's arms around his neck, and helped him sit down on the sofa. And he was too weak to prevent the thunderer from doing so.

All of a sudden he felt very dizzy. He closed his eyes, willing the world to stop spinning.

"Ok, I get it. He's definitely no threat at the moment." he heard the archer's voice say. Someone answered, but Loki couldn't tell who it was or what they was saying.

Then his consciousness slipped away.

* * *

"He is still injured and weak, my lord. But the ones called Avengers are sheltering him. We do not know if they would also defend him. We need more soldiers, my lord!"

Thanos growled unwillingly. The Avengers had crossed his plans once already. They had proved strong, very strong. But they would not succeed this time. An evil grin spread over his features. No they definitely would not be able to stop him this time; they would have to simply watch.


	9. Chapter 8

**A new chapter ^_^ **

**In case you haven't noticed yet, I try to update at least every week-end.  
If I do not manage to update as frequently as until now in the next few weeks, that is due to  
my Abitur which is coming up all too soon ^^;.**

**Hope you enjoy it :D**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

When Peter arrived in Stark Tower the next morning he was greeted by a young and blonde woman with pink painted lips and a very elegant looking coat and skirt. She approached him as soon as he entered the lobby and examined him with a depreciatory glance.

"Peter Parker?" she asked with a high, almost childlike voice. With that voice she reminded him even more of a living Barbie doll. He tried not to laugh and nodded in response to her question.

"From today onward you will be Mr. Stark's personal intern on his own request." The jealousy in her voice was only partially concealed and Peter couldn't blame her for it. She probably had been working for Stark Industries for quite a long time now without Tony Stark even noticing her and he, some random intern, got to work with him out of the blue.

"What will be my duties as Mr. Stark's personal intern?" he asked only to break the awkward silence.

"You will do whatever he tells you to do." the Barbie doll answered simply. "Now if you would follow me."

She led him to a couple of elevators on the opposite side of the room.

"This," she said portentously. "This is Mr. Stark's private lift. No one except for him, Mrs. Potts or the other residents of Stark Tower is allowed to use it. You will get this card "– she held a blue ID-card  
up – "which will allow you to use this elevator as well." Another hint of Jealousy, even less good concealed than before. "You are however not allowed to go to the top floors of Stark Tower."

Peter nodded.

"Good. Mr. Stark is currently in his laboratory on the eleventh floor. He has requested that you join him there." She gave him the card. "Enjoy yourself, Mr. Parker." Those last words she said with so much open animosity that Peter wondered if she was maybe in love with Stark. Not so uncommon in Stark Tower he assumed. He chose to ignore the Barbie's poisonous looks and entered the lift by holding the card to the reading field next to the lift's door.

The eleventh floor was as white as all the floors Peter had seen the previous day. He found the laboratory quite easily. He only had to follow the loud Hard-Rock music. AC/DC he recognized.

Tony Stark was standing on a table and was working on some kind of robot. He had his back turned to the door so he didn't see Peter entering. The boy cleared his throat to call the inventor's attention, but it was less than audible thanks to the loud music. So he decided to speak.

"Excuse me, Mr. Stark…"

Tony whirled around. For a moment he looked alarmed, almost panicked, as if he would suit up and fight whoever was intruding any minute. Then he recognized Peter and a big smile spread over his features.

"Peter! Please call me Tony, Mr. Stark was my father."

"Tony then," Peter couldn't help but smile back. "So... what exactly will I be doing now that I am your personal intern?"

"Depends on what I want to do. And at the moment I want to repair that Dummy over here so that he stops spitting water in my face whenever I so much as approach him." He threw the motionless robot an angry glance.

"So… how can I help?"

"By handing me that screw over there for starters."

Peter smiled and obeyed.

They worked silently for some time, only interrupted by Tony's short instructions. Peter enjoyed working on that robot. He had built one himself when he had been about twelve years old, but Tony's robot was constructed a lot more complicated than any robot he had ever seen. It was simply brilliant and he understood that Tony Stark was indeed a genius.

"You're attending MidScience, aren't you?"

Tony's voice jerked Peter out of his thoughts.

"Yes." He answered simply. "I take it that you looked me up?"

"Of course I did," the inventor said. "I can't have anyone work for me whose biography I don't know. You could be some sort of terrorist who wants to spy on me. Or you could be an agent from SHIELD who pretends to be my personal assistant in order to make my psychological profile for a super secret superhero boy group." He smirked at the end of the sentence.

"You call the Avengers a super secret superhero boy group."

"Sure do."

"What about the Black Widow?"

"She doesn't count; she fights better than any man I know. And she is Russian."

Peter shook his head in amusement. Tony Stark was really some funny and definitely weird guy.

"Do you have a girlfriend Peter?"

"Sort of," he replied shortly.

"A boyfriend then?"

Peter looked up in shock for a minute before putting the screwdriver he had been using away.

"No, Gwen is definitely a girl, but we haven't met for some time and… well her father died and it wasn't quite easy for her."

"Shouldn't you be helping her then? I mean I'm no expert in human relations…"

Peter shook his head sadly.

"It's more complicated, her father didn't like our relationship and… well, the last time we spoke he asked me to leave her alone."

"Ah, so you are trying to fulfil her father's dying will."

Peter nodded. "First I didn't want to do it, but now… Anyway, who are the other residents of Stark Tower that woman downstairs warned me about?"

"She warned you?" The inventor smiled amused.

"Well maybe not warned, but – "

"_Sir, your presence is requested on the top floor by Mr. Rogers. There is a situation he needs your help with."_

Tony frowned. Peter noticed that he looked a little worried.

"Tell Steve I'm right there."

"_Yes Sir."_

"So… I'll better leave then," Peter said, feeling a little awkward. Tony looked at him for a while.

"No, come with me." he said then. "I want to introduce you to the other residents. By the way, that was JARVIS, my AI. JARVIS stands for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System."

Tony smiled and let Peter back to the elevator.

"Oh, and don't worry, they are all rather nice." he promised, still smiling. Peter couldn't say anything. He was about to meet the Avengers!

* * *

"No! We watched Star Trek last week already and – "

Steve Rogers was at his wits' end. He had thought it a good idea to propose to watch a movie along with Loki to get to know him better. He still didn't trust the trickster one bit but after meeting him the previous day he now was sure that he wasn't a threat at the moment. He even hoped that if they treated him nicely he could change.

He had expected that Loki would decline the invitation. He had even half expected him to be gone when he went looking for him. He hadn't expected him to come and then simply sit in a corner while Clint, Thor and Bruce argued about which movie they would watch.

"I vote for the movie called _The lord of the rings_!" Thor claimed in a booming voice. "The brave people of Middle-earth are true warriors!"

"We've already watched this movie three times!" Clint complained. "Why don't we watch the new Star Trek? There are fights too!"

"And why not simply watch a _good_ movie for a change?" Bruce asked. "I would like to watch _Some like it hot_!"

"That movie is black and white!"

Steve sighed and looked over to where Natasha was standing. She was observing the fighting men with some amusement. Loki on the other hand looked utterly bewildered. It occurred to Steve that the trickster had never seen anyone discuss over such a trivial matter.

He turned around at the sound of a lift door sliding open. When he saw Tony enter the room he couldn't help but smile in relieve, something he rarely did when meeting the billionaire.

"Hey Cap" he was greeted. "So where's the fire?"

Steve frowned in confusion.

"There is no fire, did JARVIS get me wrong?"

Tony face palmed.

"I mean: where is the problem" he then said, very slowly as if the soldier had problems hearing him.

"Oh." Steve felt bad for misunderstanding, but he just couldn't memorize those modern expressions. "Well, we wanted to watch a movie and –" he gestured in the direction of their still arguing team members. Tony nodded.

"Hey guys, that's no way to behave yourselves in front of two guests!" he shouted.

It was only then that Steve noticed the young looking brown-haired boy who was standing behind the inventor without attracting attention. The other's noticed him as well and stopped fighting, looking at Tony inquiringly.

"Don't tell me this is your long lost son, Tony!" Clint was the first to speak up.

"What?! No, he's my personal intern and I wanted him to meet you. His name's Peter Parker."

The boy smiled, looking a little insecure.

"Since when do you have a personal intern?" Natasha asked and eyed the boy.

"Since today. So now about that movie, I'd say we watch _Star Wars_, the old ones."

Clint wanted to object something but Tony just waved one hand.

"My tower, my rules Barton."

Tony walked over to the big sofa in the middle of the room.

"JARVIS, bring up the movies. And make some popcorn. Peter you wanna watch with us?"

The boy nodded, smiling. "I love the old _Star Wars_ movies."

"Great! Sit down then!" The billionaire rubbed his hands. Then he spotted Loki who was still sitting in the corner. "And you too, Loki. You are my guest and I don't want you to feel like an outsider."

"I am an outsider though" Loki answered quietly but approached the sofa hesitantly. Steve almost felt bad for him. From his point of view, the trickster was surrounded by enemies who just didn't behave the way they should. It was probably very confusing for him.

The boy, Peter seemed to notice the man's discomfort towards the other's and offered him a seat next to him. Steve couldn't help but smile at this. He already liked that kid, although he was a little worried about seating a former villain next to an unsuspecting boy. He chose not to say anything and sat down in one of Tony's very comfortable armchairs that were standing next to the sofa.

The movies were great. Steve hadn't known them before but he liked that they didn't seem to be as modern as some others. He instantly took a liking to Luke Skywalker, an ordinary boy who was suddenly made hero. Somehow that reminded Steve of himself. Tony and the others seemed to have a lot of fun and even Loki, though suspicious and cautious in the beginning couldn't hide a smile at the dialogues of R2D2 and C3PO.

After the first they decided to watch the second right away and Steve was touched by how Han Solo cared for Luke when he didn't return in the beginning. Later he laughed at Yoda, he was just so small and yet turned out so strong.

It happened during one of the last scenes.

_"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."_

_"He told me enough! He told me _you_ killed him!"_

_"No. _I_ am your father."_

_"No. No. That's not true. That's impossible!"_

_"Search your feelings, you_ know_ it to be true!"_

_"No! Nooooo!"_

A sudden whimper made him turn his face away from the screen. It came from Loki who was staring at the TV, eyes wide in shock, terrified. Steve frowned. What was wrong with the trickster? Thor leant over to his brother and whispered something into his ear. The trickster seemed to relax slightly before throwing Thor a poisonous glare, as if remembering only then that he should hate his brother.

Steve remembered Thor saying that Loki was adopted, but he hadn't been giving it much thought back then. Maybe the trickster had been reminded of something unpleasant of his past. He decided to later ask Thor about it.

After the movie they noticed that it was already six o'clock in the evening.

"Am I the only one who is hungry?" Tony asked. It was only then that Steve noticed his stomach growling.

They ordered Pizza and it was a really funny evening. Loki didn't eat much and said even less if not necessary but he seemed less suspicious around them.  
The boy, Peter, on the other hand turned out to be very intelligent and nearly as sarcastic as Tony. Steve understood perfectly well why the billionaire had taken a liking to him.

It was around ten when Peter suddenly rose.

"I have to go home now. My aunt will be worrying. It was nice to meet you all." He gave them a genuine smile.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too." Steve said, smiling as well. The boy's eyes grew a little wider.

"Well, maybe I will see you tomorrow, I mean if I am allowed to…?" he glanced over to Tony.

"Sure. You can come up here whenever you want. Even on week-ends." the billionaire said brightly. Peter nodded and then left.

"I will go to bed as well." Loki said then looking at them a little frightened as if they would deny him that.

"That's a good idea, you're still not fully healed." Bruce agreed.

"Oh, Reindeer Games," Tony said as if remembering something. "I had a new room being prepared for you. Thought you might like to leave the infirmary. It's on the 25th floor, JARVIS will lead you there. If you need anything…"

Loki looked at him, seemingly alarmed by the unsuspected kindness, then he nodded.

"JARVIS, could you take me to that room?"

"_Certainly."_

Steve noticed that Loki was using the walls for support when he left. He also noticed Thor noticing it and frowning in concern. But oddly enough the God of thunder didn't offer any help to his brother. Maybe because he knew that Loki would have declined any help.

A few minutes later Steve decided to go to bed as well, although he probably would be unable to sleep. When covering in his stars-and-stripes-patterned blanket, he thought about what had happened in the last few hours, unsure what was about to follow.


	10. Chapter 9

**I'm so sorry, I know I'm late with this chapter :-(**

**I hope you can still enjoy it.**

**I'll add a picture to the story soon, so don't be surprised :-)**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Loki's eyes flew open. He was panting heavily, gripping his throat where he could have sworn he had felt rough, violent hands only seconds ago. He looked around, taking in the green and gold decoration of the room, realising that he was in Stark Tower. Stark must have chosen the furnishing as a tribute to his favourite armour. Loki sat up carefully, not wanting to put too much pressure on his only recently healed fingers and trying to ignore the pain that assaulted his still sore ribcage.

What had he been dreaming about? He remembered piercing blue eyes, a cruel voice and hands, all over his body, hurting him in every possible way. He shuddered. Suddenly, the air in the room seemed too thick to breath. The walls came closer and closer. Oh please, no!

He needed to get out. Right now.

He jumped off the bed as well as he could manage with his still hurting leg and made his way to the door. The corridors of Stark Tower seemed endless and too narrow. Loki limped towards the living room, supporting himself with one hand against the wall. After arriving he immediately stepped out on the terrace and leaned against the handrail that surrounded it partially.

The city beneath him was filled with flashy lights, even now in the dead of night. Or rather the early morning, there was already a thin bright line visible on the horizon. Loki took in deep breaths and tried not to remember. Not to remember that other shining city with all its gold and marble and people filling the ever so busy streets. The towers of this Midgardian city weren't nearly as high as the towers of Asgard, but their glass made facades glimmered like silver in this morning hour.

He closed his eyes, unable to take the sight any longer. Wasn't it impossible to be homesick without actually having a home? Because there was no way that he could still consider Asgard his home. If there had ever been a time where he had been happy in the golden city than it was long gone and he could hardly remember it.

All that he remembered now was Thor and his friends laughing at him for not being as strong as them. For using magic in battle instead of manpower. For being quick, because that made him "talented in running from danger", although he never once flew from battle. For simply not being like them, for not being _enough_.

A cold breeze made him shiver and he wrapped his arms around himself, eyes still closed. He had hated his life in Asgard and still he couldn't deny that he missed it somehow.

"Trouble sleeping?"

The voice behind him startled him. He whirled around, all muscles tense. He relaxed immediately when he recognized the good Captain.

"And I am not the only one it seems." he replied. He was too exhausted to think of something hurtful and snarky to say to the blonde.

"I don't need as much sleep as most of the others. The serum I suppose. But I guess I slept enough for my whole life while I was frozen."

The Captain leaned against the handrail as well, studying Loki with a look that indicated something between wariness and curiosity.

Loki couldn't help but chuckle a little. He could imagine how he looked: Exhausted, tired and pitiful. How could the soldier possibly think him a threat?

They stood silent for a few moments, listening to the ever noisy streets beneath them. Loki thought that it must be equally strange for the Captain as it was for him, the modern times.

"May I ask you a question?"

Loki looked up and met the other man's interrogating glance. He nodded without saying anything. It was not like he could keep him from asking anyway.

"Why did you do all that? Try to take over Earth, kill Coulson and destroy the whole city? Why are you evil?"

It took Loki a few seconds to overcome his initial shock at the soldier's directness. And he also wondered if that was really what he had been, evil.

"To tell you the truth, I have never once considered myself evil. It might occur strange to you but I think no one really believes himself to be evil." Except maybe Thanos, but he kept that for himself.

"Has Thor ever told you about our… family situation?"

The Captain hesitated for a moment.

"He mentioned that you were adopted once," he then answered carefully. Loki thought about that usage of word.

"I was not really adopted. I was found and kept. My true father was… an enemy to Asgard. A Frost giant." The word sent shivers down his spine. Oh, how he hated that word, but it was the truth.

"Odin found me after a battle and… kept me. Raised me along with Thor. It took me a few centuries before I found out the truth, about me being a frost giant."

"What is so bad about being a Frost giant?" the Captain asked. Oh how few they knew, these mortals.

"Well, I was raised with stories about the cruel crimes that the Frost giants committed in the past. They are monsters. When we were little Thor used to say that one day he would kill them all." Loki didn't dare to look into the soldier's eyes while saying that. The good man would pity him for sure and he didn't _need_ pity.

"I found out by accident during a battle. When I confronted Odin about it… he did not deny the fact that he raised me for the purpose of uniting our people."

"_So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?"_

"_Why do you twist my words?"_

"After that I wanted to prove my worthiness to the All-father and… well, took opportunity of his Odin-sleep and Thor's banishment to sit on the throne of Asgard." He kept all emotions out of his voice.

"I failed."

"That whole being adopted thing and in reality being the son of a… an enemy – is that the reason why you reacted so badly to the movie tonight?" the Captain asked after a moment of silence.

Loki had to admit that he hadn't suspected him to be so observant. He hesitated before answering. When he did his voice was barely above a whisper.

"It was not only the revelation of Luke being Darth Vader's son. His solution… letting himself fall into an abyss… I did the same." He took a deep breath. "When Thor returned from Midgard, knowing about my plan to destroy Jotunheim… We fought and in the end we were hanging above the nothingness beneath the Bifröst. Odin caught Thor and Thor held onto Gungnir, the spear I used. I… Odin was not pleased with my actions, he was disappointed and I… When he rejected me I let go."

"_I could have done it, Father! I could have done it! For you! For all of us!"_

"_No, Loki."_

He saw the shock in the Captain's eyes.

"You tried to kill yourself?"

"Basically, yes. But I did not succeed as you see." Loki laughed dryly. He really was a total failure, not even able to kill himself.

"But why did you come to Earth then?"

"I… I don't know." The answer was honest. As much as he tried he just couldn't remember his reasons. Maybe anger, jealousy, desperation. Why couldn't he remember?

The soldier seemed to understand that it was a sensitive subject and didn't pursue it any further. Instead he gazed at the horizon which had gotten even brighter by now.

"You know what? You actually seem to be quite a nice guy, apart from the whole taking over Earth thing and stuff."

Loki looked at him in surprise. Why was he being so nice towards him? And why did he, himself, trust that man? It was only now that he realised that he had told the soldier his whole life. He had never done that before. Maybe he really was too tired.

"Do not get used to it." he said trying his best to sound snarky. The soldier just laughed.

"Let's go in and make some breakfast." he suggested, smiling. Loki threw one last glance over the city and then followed the Captain. Maybe he could be able to like this mortal.

* * *

When Tony Stark came down for breakfast that morning he couldn't believe his eyes: the resident God of Lies and Mischief was sitting at the counter in his kitchen and ate cereals while talking with Steve.

"What happened to you two? You friends all of the sudden? Or is it more?" he asked with an innocent look, grinning when Steve's face colour changed to tomato red at the hint.

"Not everyone is completely unsociable, Stark," Loki said with a sly smile on his lips. "Although I hear that you are quite the one to shut yourself against others."

Tony looked at Steve incredulously.

"You told him that? Are you planning on changing sides all of the sudden? I am deeply hurt Captain!"

Steve seemed to want to defend himself for a second before realising that Tony was actually joking. He smiled a little and then went over to the stove.

"Do you want some bacon?"

"Bacon?" Tony felt his face lit up at the mentioning of his favourite breakfast treat. "Wait you made breakfast? You two, alone in my kitchen? How did you manage not to burn the whole tower down?" He looked around noticing with amazement that all of is expensive modern equipment was still undamaged.

"Well, it seems you and Bruce are not the only geniuses in this tower anymore." Loki said innocently.

Tony looked at him in awe.

"You _know_ how to operate these modern things?"

"I did not know until this morning. They are actually not so difficult to handle."

Tony gaped at him. He had totally underestimated this guy.

"So you both got up early?" He didn't really have to ask. They both looked tired, especially Loki, and he guessed that they both hadn't had nice dreams. Just like himself, but he had spent most of the night in his laboratory instead of socializing.

He got a plate with bacon without any answer and he was fine with that. He noticed that Loki was a lot more relaxed around them by now and he decided to take that as a good sign. Maybe now it would be easier to get along with the trickster.

They finished breakfast silently and after they put the plates in the dishwasher Tony wondered what to do all morning.

"Hey, maybe we could play some game on the Wii and –"

He was interrupted by JARVIS.

"_Sir, Director Fury is on the line. It seems to be an emergency."_

"Put him through J," Tony commanded frowning.

"_Good morning, Stark."_

"Morning, Sir!" Tony said in an exaggerated tone.

"_That is not the time for making fun, Stark. Is Captain Rogers there?"_

"I'm here director," the soldier said, frowning as well.

"_It seems the terrorists that you chased a few days ago are active again. But this time they are targeting New York. I don't know what their objectives are yet, so please don't do anything reckless yet and wait for further information. Gather the Avengers, we might need them."_

With that Fury finished the phone call and left Tony and Steve looking at each other worried.

"JARVIS, wake up the others. They are to gather in the living room," Tony said with the calm voice he only used when something had to be done quickly in a matter of life and death.

"_Yes, sir._" the AI replied simply.

Steve looked over to Loki who had stepped away from them a bit during Fury's call, seemingly unsure about what to do.

"You come with us, maybe you can help us." Steve stated. Loki nodded. No snarky reply. Well, wasn't that interesting, Tony thought to himself.

* * *

Peter woke up to the sound of the police radio that always was lying next to his bed. He must have forgotten to turn it off when returning home late the previous night.

"_All units, reinforcement needed at the Central Bank, there is a robbery with several hostages. All units!"_

Peter frowned. Several hostages. Maybe he should take a look at it. He changed into his Spider-man suit and set out for the bank.

When he arrived there, there were many police vehicles surrounding the building, it seemed like something quite big was happening. He landed on a ledge on the side of the bank and entered through the window without being seen by the police forces.

Inside there were several corridors but he eventually found his way to the ground floor of the building.

The hostages were kneeling on the shining marble floor, their hands behind their heads, faces pale with fear. The robbers, a few big guys in black, were wearing black ski masks and large guns. They were talking to each other in loud voices, apparently something went wrong.

"Why are there so many police? They were supposed to send a few patrol cars and some mediators!"

Peter had to agree that it was indeed strange that all police unites were called to one simple robbery.

Then he noticed something strange about one of the hostages. It was a middle aged man, a little fat, in a seemingly ordinary suit. The strange thing was that he didn't seem to be afraid. And that he was emitting a slight green glow.

All of Peter's spider-senses kicked in. He rushed over to the man just when the latter was standing up, glowing even more intense, and pointed at the robbers with one finger, a cruel smile on his face.

Peter tackled him and the green beam from his finger hit the ceiling instead of the robber and left a big gaping hole in the concrete. They flew through the room and collided with one of the walls. The man was immediately back on his feet, looking around for his attacker, finding Peter and now pointing at him.

Peter managed to duck just in time before the beam hit him. He shot a web at the green glowing man, but it was brushed away with a single hand. Oh great. This wouldn't be easy.

And as if the man had read Peter's thoughts and decided to prove his conclusion to be right he suddenly emitted beams from his feet and catapulted himself into the air. He could fly. Well shit. Peter made his way to the exit as quick as possible, ignored the police standing around and started to make his way through the city.

He had to lure that maniac away from the people. Was he being followed? He avoided another green beam by a hair's breadth. Yes, he was. Oh great. So, where could he take that beam shooter now?


	11. Chapter 10

**_Finally_ a new chapter ^.^  
**

**I'm really, really sorry for the delay. In addition to my written final exams there  
were a few complications when releasing it.**

**The good news is that I've finally finished those exams and am now hopefully able  
to update more frequently and write longer chapters ;-)**

**Enjoy this chapter and feel free to write a review :3**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"We have a problem."

The man in black's gaze left the desk in front of him and focused on his entering underling instead.

"What is it?" His voice was hoarse as always and dangerously calm. He had been planning this undertaking almost two years and he didn't feel like dealing with problems right now, so shortly before it was finished.

"One of our subjects, the one who was positioned in a bank has already been activated. Apparently there was a robbery and it triggered the reaction…"

The man in black sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Idiots. He was surrounded by idiots.

"What is he doing now?"

"He's fighting with a masked man – "

"One of the robbers?"

"No, Sir, it is a man in red and blue, a local vigilante called Spider-man."

A vigilante. Oh great.

"What about the Avengers?"

"They haven't shown up yet, I believe they will behave as predicted, Sir, and follow the orders of S.H.I.E.L.D. They are soldiers after all."

"Good. Activate the others. They can join the fight now as well, it has already begun anyways." the man in black sighed. "Let's hope that no other vigilante shows up. If it doesn't go according to plan…"

The other man nodded, gulping nervously. Then he saluted and left the room. The man in black stared at the door after his subordinate had left and thought about how great it would be to accomplish what he had been planning for so long.

* * *

They were all assembled on the top floor of Stark Tower. The air was thick with tenseness and a certain nervousness lingered in every face. Bruce wiped his forehead, nearly surprised that it wasn't already drenched with sweat.

"How long will we have to wait? Can't we just suit up and kick those terrorists' asses?"

Bruce rolled his eyes. Of course Tony was impatient.

"You heard Director Fury. It's too risky to act without knowing what they are actually planning. We have our orders and we will obey them!"

And of course the good Captain would respond to Tony's complaints. He yet had to learn how to ignore them.

"Well last time I checked I was not one of Director Sea Pirate's underlings!" Tony glared at Steve.

"We are a team _Stark,_ we have to work together, or else those bastards could win!"

"I already took out a whole circle of terrorists all by myself once; do you really think I need your panty ass for that one?"

Steve opened his mouth to reply, but Bruce beat him to that.

"Stop fighting, there are more important things right now. Like thinking about what we could do against those bad guys. What do we know about them, Steve?"

The soldier glared at Tony one last time. Then he turned to Bruce.

"They have tried to blow up insignificant buildings in fifteen different cities so far. They don't seem to have any kind of political motivation or they would have gone after important places. They always placed self-made explosive somewhere in a basement of a suburban house and some of them stayed around that house but we never managed to catch one alive…"

"Yeah," Clint frowned. "The explosives were made rather sluggishly, but they were good and fierce fighters. No match for us though." He grinned.

"And you have no idea what they're objective is?" Even Tony seemed to be interested by now.

"Not the slightest." Natasha's face was emotionless, as always, but Bruce could tell by the way she grasped at her gun that she was nervous as well.

"So we do not know what they seek to achieve by their actions." Thor concluded. He stood near the door and seemed nearly as impatient as Tony. Clearly he didn't appreciate the fact that he had to leave his brother's side.

"No we don't." Steve answered, something like resignation in his voice.

"So why don't we just go out there and beat them up?" Tony asked. Bruce sighed. They were back to the beginning of the conversation.

"Tony -" he started but then was cut off by something crashing through the window.

* * *

There are not many places in New York where you could bring a crazy laser-or-whatever-shooting maniac to. In fact Peter knew only one.

When he crashed through the top floor window of Stark Tower he was completely and utterly exhausted. The way from the bank to the Tower hadn't been long, but his pursuer kept shooting his weird green beams at him so that he had to draw aside every thirty seconds.

However he didn't manage to avoid all of them. One hit him in the leg – why _always_ his leg?! – and the burns throbbed painfully when he finally arrived at Stark Tower.

After his crash landing he remained lying on the floor for a few seconds until the worst pain was over. Great. Now his whole body was covered in cuts. And he had probably sprained his wrist trying to brace himself against the fall.

He propped himself up on one arm – and was greeted by the whole Avengers team staring at him.

"Um… well hi," he said awkwardly. "I'm really sorry to burst in here like this. I mean literally burst in. But do you think you could help me out a little with – "

A green beam shot through the window at Peter who managed to roll to one side in time, ignoring the pain it caused his leg. Captain America was the first to snap out of his surprise.

"Tony, you take care of whoever is shooting those lasers. Clint and Thor, go on the roof and look out for possible other threats and eliminate them. Natasha and I will go down in the streets and precautionary evacuate the civilians. And Bruce you take care of our friend here. He doesn't seem to be in any condition to go on fighting. Let's go!"

Everyone nodded and got moving immediately. Peter was still marveling at the Captain's natural authority and – at least for him – irresistible charisma when he felt a hand gently settling on his arm. He jerked around only to see Dr. Banner crouch down next to him.

"Hey," the dark haired man said, smiling gently. "Nice to see you again. Let's get you over there," he pointed to one of the sofas, "so that I can take a look at you."

Peter nodded, feeling light-headed all of the sudden. He then found it a rather difficult task to stand up using only one arm and one leg. Luckily Bruce was there for support, or else he wouldn't have been able to get up at all.

Why did his body feel so heavy all of the sudden?

He barely managed to suppress a sigh of relieve when he settled down on the couch and leaned back. Bruce sat beside him and started treating his wounds.

The doctor frowned when examining his leg. Until now Peter hadn't dared to really look at it himself. When he did now he gasped in shock: his femoral was partially burned, no, rather melted, black and disgusting. He had to look away, although he knew that thanks to his extraordinary healing abilities his leg would soon be well again.

He couldn't keep himself from wincing when Bruce gingerly touched his leg, which made the doctor's frown deepen.

Peter tried to divert himself from his aching body and looked out of the window where Tony fought the maniac. Tony seemed to have a hard time against the beam shooter, although he wore his iron armour (when did he put it on?) and Peter felt guilt form inside of his stomach.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought him here…" he whispered, not quite conscious of himself.

Bruce looked up from Peter's leg.

"What are you talking about? Tony will be fine, but you are already injured. I think he has far better chances than you, to say the truth. And it's our job to help after all." Bruce smiled again and Peter couldn't help but smile back. Those guys were really nice.

* * *

Tony cursed and avoided another green beam. What was the guy shooting anyway? Was it laser? No, his armour was laser proof and it had already melted in several places.

The scientist in him wondered where the fuel for those beams came from. Apparently they were emitting from his body. Would he run out of beams when he only shot enough of them? Maybe, but Tony couldn't bet on that.

He drew aside just in time to see a beam hit his beautiful tower behind him. He sighed. They had just finished repairing it after Loki's invasion. And if he didn't stop this new villain soon he would have to renovate yet again.

So where were the weak points of that man? Tony narrowed his helmet covered eyes.

The other could fly by emitting beams from his feet and hands, just like himself. But his movements seemed rather untrained. That man had probably never used his flying abilities before today. And he was unprotected. No suit, no armour, only a man.

Tony grinned. Maybe he could out fly his opponent.

"JARVIS, put 20% power on the jet-nozzles."

"Yes, Sir."

Tony felt himself being catapulted higher up. He looked down and saw the green glowing man looking around in confusion then gazing up and following him.

He was slower though and Tony smiled. He had been right. Maybe he could use the same trick on that one that he used on Obadiah. He ignored the painful memories that threatened to arise inside of him and rose higher up.

Looking down he made sure that the other was following him. He was. God, why were most people so stupid?

It took a few minutes to reach the necessary height. When he finally saw the needed temperature on his display he stopped and waited. He didn't have to wait long. The green glowing man reached him and grinned maniacally.

Then he froze, literally, and started falling down. Tony followed him and saw him crash rather violently on the ground. Yep, that one wouldn't get up anytime soon. Or any other time.

Tony rose above the city, smiling in self-satisfaction. Then he noticed green glows. All over the city. Oh fantastic.


End file.
